As a cloth diapering, eco-conscious mama, do you ever find yourself in uncomfortable situations with non-cloth mamas? Ever been subjected to the raised eyebrows, the snide comments, or have you yourself, perhaps without thinking, participated in this kind of behavior? Do you ever feel a little like you're in a kind of battle?

Friends, it doesn't have to be this way! Just as we may tire of well-meaning, convenience-loving relatives telling us to give up on cloth and just "do what we have to do" to make things easier on ourselves, our disposable diaper addicted friends probably also get pretty tired of us constantly preaching the wonders of the natural way.

So what's to be done? Do we give up on educating our friends about cloth and natural living? Of course not! The information needs to be made readily available to everyone! But we know ourselves that after a long day or week of child-rearing and possibly working a separate job on top of that, that the last thing we want is someone trying to tell us that the choices we've made out of love for our children are wrong, or bad, or selfish. We're all parents, we should be supporting one another, not tearing one another down!

The solution lies in good old common sense, and putting a little of that emotional intelligence to work. Does your friend give you strong hints (or say outright) that she is not the least bit interested in cloth or greener living? Then it's probably best not to push the issue. No point trying to open a locked door! Your friend may come to resent you, and you don't want that! The best route is to seek out mama friends who are actually intrigued by what you are doing (even if they may be slightly intimidated by it) and sit and have an honest conversation with them about why you love cloth, what you find easy about it, and also what you find difficult. Lay it out for them factually without being pushy, so they can see the pros and cons. Many people tend to shy away from something if they feel they're being pressured into it, so try a bit of restraint and you may found yourself with a bona fide cloth disciple!

As more and more people start to see the benefits of cloth and it becomes more mainstream, even your friend who wanted nothing to do with it may come to you asking for more information. If that happens, you may find that you're silently thanking yourself for having the initial tact and foresight to keep your big mouth shut. :-)